Sunday rebellion: Tories facing loss of support from millions of churchgoers over gay marriage

David Cameron is set to lose millions of votes over same-sex marriage policy

The Conservative party risk the support of millions of churchgoers by supporting same-sex marriages, a poll suggests.

David Cameron’s plans to legalise gay marriages does not sit well with six out of ten regular churchgoers who said they are less likely to vote Conservative in the next election as a result of the Prime Minister’s stance on the matter.

As religious groups estimate that 7.6 million people attend church once a month this could mean a loss of millions of votes.

A poll by ComRes found that 58 per cent of regular service attendees were less likely to vote Conservative after plans of the new policy were made public.

A mere two per cent of those who went to church once a month or more said the introduction of same-sex marriage made it more likely that they would vote Tory with ten per cent saying they would stand by the party regardless.

The Conservatives were not the only political party at loss. Nearly half of those polled said they were deterred from voting Lib Dem and 27 per cent would not vote Labour due to their policies on same-sex marriage.

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Last week the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg spoke out in support of religious organisations and churches being allowed to conduct same-sex marriage if they wish to do so.

Research by The Independent showed that a majority of Britons want the government to go ahead with their plans to legalise gay marriage even if research concludes that the general consensus is negative.

A majority of the estimated 7.6 million regular churchgoers who vote Conservative said they would not vote for the party in the next election due to its stance on same-sex unions

A survey asked if gay marriage should be legalised in England and Wales following the Scottish announcement to do so even if most people responding to the UK government’s consultation are opposed to it and 54 per cent agreed.

Only 37 per cent were opposed to the proposition whilst nine per cent said they did not know.

Although a majority of Liberal Democrat and Labour voters support a legalisation of same-sex marriage only 49 per cent of Conservative voters do so.

A legalisation is fiercely opposed by the Church of England and more than 50 Conservative MPs have pledged to vote against the proposal.

The Home Office has received more than 100,000 responses, a majority of which oppose the idea.

This is a revelation which comes just over a month after the Scottish Government said they will go ahead with plans of a legalisation even though a public consultation had negative results.